1,400 Britons Reported to Have Died in Gulags

LONDON — Britain's Defense Ministry said Friday that it is investigating claims that more than 1,400 Britons died in Soviet labor camps after World War II.

The inquiry follows press reports that secret archives unearthed by KGB officers showed that British pilots, naval officers and technical experts were seized because of their knowledge of Western military technology and intelligence.

According to London's Evening Standard, the men were transported at gunpoint to Soviet labor camps after being freed from German prisoner of war camps. Its report said more than 1,400 Britons died in the camps.